How to Say "Bathroom" in French

salle de bain

/sal də bɛ̃/

The French phrase for bathroom is salle de bain.

salle de bain is used specifically to describe a room that contains a bathtub or a shower.

Meaning: a room with a bathtub (noun)

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase literally translates to room of bath.

Use salle de bain when referring to a room with a bathtub or shower. For the toilet or a restroom, use toilettes instead.

To form the plural, add an s to salle to get salles de bain. Note that salles de bains is also a common and accepted spelling.

The word bain is a doublet of the French word bagne, which refers to a penal colony or a place of forced labor.
In many French homes, the 'salle de bain' and the 'toilettes' are two entirely separate rooms, unlike in many English-speaking households.
If you ask for the salle de bain in a restaurant, you might find yourself in a room with a bathtub rather than a restroom.

Où est la salle de bain ?
Where is the bathroom?
This sentence is useful for asking for the location of the salle de bain.
Tatoeba #4827080 by sicerabibax, translation #2136 by brauliobezerra
Va dans la salle de bains.
Get in the bathroom.
This sentence is useful for telling someone to go into the salle de bain.
Tatoeba #6376064 by Scorpionvenin14, translation #6376062 by OsoHombre
Tom est à la salle de bain.
Tom is in the bathroom.
This sentence is useful for stating that someone is currently in the salle de bain.
Tatoeba #2354998 by Amastan, translation #2276360 by CK
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer où sont les toilettes?
Can you tell me where the bathrooms are?
Où sont les sanitaires?
Where are the bathrooms?
Excuse-moi, où sont les toilettes?
Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
80 more sentences on Tatoeba

Chloé and Lucas are at a friend's house.

Sources

Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry salle de bain, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries bain, de, salle, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

⭐Share⭐ to appreciate human effort 🙏